Published: June 5, 2026 β’ 4:32 AM IST Β· Updated: June 6, 2026 β’ 6:26 AM ISTBy TheBriefWire Editorial Team
Key points
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy proposed a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin in a rare open letter to the Russian leader Thursday (June 4, 2026), shortly after the Kremlin chief had conceded Moscow needed to strengthen its air defences following a spate of Ukrainian attacks.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who has pushed both sides to end the conflict and boasted he could end the war within a day of taking office, said a face-to-face Putin-Zelenskyy meeting would be "great" β but pushed both sides to compromise.
The Kremlin said Mr. Putin had not yet been shown the letter, but that Mr. Zelenskyy could meet Mr. Putin in Moscow "any time" β a proposal that the Ukrainian leader preemptively ruled out in his letter.
"Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us β and you.
I am proposing a meeting," Mr. Zelenskyy said in the letter.